"I have been carrying four five rupee notes for the last six months in my wallet and have not managed to spend them. Every time I try to use one of them, traders refuse to accept it. When I ask for an explanation, they just give vague answers," said Roshni Tagore, an MBA student.

Apparently there's no reason for them to refuse the "fivers." The RBI says they haven't taken them out of circulation. A 5 Rupees Cupronickel coin was introduced in 1992, but this rumor about the five note is recent.

"Of late, we have received several such complaints from various parts of the city. Some even approached us to know whether the five rupee notes were denotified or not," an RBI official from the circulation department, on condition of anonymity, told the Deccan Chronicle.

"We have no idea why city traders are not accepting the legal tender."

But luckily, right now, the issue appears to be isolated in Hyderabad.

"Even in the metropolises like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai people are using the notes in day-to-day life," said the RBI official.

But the rumor is sticking. Even after the RBI issued issued a press release stating that the five rupee notes were perfectly legal and were not denotified, the problem is persisting.

"We think that five rupee notes are no longer in circulation, and are only following what other traders are practicing," a shopkeeper told the Deccan.

Here's where the rumor might have originated:

According to the RBI official, the Central bank had denotified notes of Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 denominations way back in 1976. This was specifically done to curb the circulation of black money.